Socket API Link Performance Monitoring via Intermediary Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network communication sockets lack information about the communication links they use, preventing applications from accessing performance parameters like bandwidth, jitter, and delay, which are crucial for optimizing network communication.
Innovation Solution
A performance monitoring network device is introduced to collect and provide information about network communication links, storing this data in high-speed memory and inserting it into packets or generating response packets with link performance details, allowing applications to retrieve this information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If network communication sockets are used for communication across the network, then communication convenience and network abstraction are improved, but access to link performance information (bandwidth, jitter, delay) is lost
Solution Approach 1:
A performance monitoring network device is introduced as an intermediary between the network communication infrastructure and the socket-based applications. This device monitors communication links and inserts performance information (bandwidth, jitter, delay) into packets or generates response packets, enabling applications to access link performance data without disrupting the existing socket abstraction layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring communication link performance and providing this information back to applications through the existing socket interface. The performance monitoring device collects real-time data about bandwidth, jitter, and delay, then feeds this information back to applications so they can adjust their communication behavior accordingly.
2Productivity
If applications need to access real-time link performance data, then communication optimization is improved, but system complexity increases due to performance monitoring infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The performance monitoring network device is designed to serve multiple functions: it monitors communication links, collects performance metrics, inserts performance information into existing packets, and generates response packets. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while enabling comprehensive performance monitoring and optimization.
3Measurement precision
If performance information is inserted into every packet, then real-time accuracy is improved, but network overhead and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of inserting performance information into every single packet, the system selectively inserts performance data into representative packets or uses sampling approaches. This partial action provides sufficiently accurate performance information for applications to make optimization decisions while avoiding the excessive network overhead and processing load that would result from embedding performance data in every packet.
Data Source
AI summary
A network socket application programming interface (API) running on a communication device is operative to provide, to applications running on the device, information about the performance of communication links used by sockets for communicating across a network. The socket API receives packets associated with sockets, and retrieves from the packets performance information for corresponding communication links. In response to receiving a request from an application for performance information associated with a particular socket, the API identifies performance information for the particular socket and returns the retrieved information to the application. A performance monitoring network device provides the performance information. The performance monitoring device stores information about the performance of a plurality of communication links used by sockets of communications devices in the network, and inserts the performance information for particular sockets into associated packets before transmitting the packets to corresponding communication devices.